Friday, August 30, 2013

Staunton, August 30 – Mikhail
Aleksandrov, a Baltic specialist at the Moscow Institute for the CIS who
attracted attention earlier this week by suggesting that Moscow should occupy
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania if the United States attacks Syria, has not
backed away from that position but instead argued his case again.

Aleksandrov said that the attention his
initial article received could not have occurred “without the interference of
some influential circles which promoted the broad dissemination of this
material,” but he said he would not speculate about just who may have been
involved lest he “lose himself in guesswork.”

Obviously, he said, his arguments
touched a nerve among many “both in Russia and abroad” and thus helped “sharpen
the discussion on the situation around Syria, to show the consequences which
could follow from the ignoring of international law by NATO countries, and to
focus attention on the fact that they themselves can be the victims” if the
world descends into chaos.

Aleksandrov then said that the reaction
to his article showed the “complete ideological impairment” of “official
circles in the Baltic countries.” Angry at talk about the possible “occupation
of their own country,” the Latvian government declared its support for “aggression
against Syria” bypassing the UN Security Council.

These officials, Aleksandrov continued,
seem blind to the possibility that “on one fine day, the same fate could
overtake their own countries,” a particular shortcoming given that “the
violation of human rights in Latvia and Estonia and even in Lithuania is more
than sufficient” for such an outcome.

Clearly, the Moscow analyst said, “the ruling circles of the Baltic countries …
are counting only on the military power of the NATO bloc,” something “very
indicative” of the unfortunate reality that they aren’t concerned about
international law but only “about the possibility of solving their own
problems.”

In taking this stance, the Baltic
governments show that they “have forgotten the simple reality that the balance
of power in the world is continuously changing.” That which looks firm and
certain today may, Aleksandrov insisted, may turn out to be fragile and
uncertain a day later, because “in the absence of international law,” those who
have power can do what they like.

“As is well-known,” he argued, “according
to the UN Charter, it is the obligation of UN members and especially permanent
members of the Security Council to provide assistance to the victims of
aggression, in this case, Syria.” Such help “can take various forms,” one of
which can be “military actions against the aggressors,” in this case, “the
members of the NATO bloc,” including Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, “especially
if they support the aggressive actions of these allies.”

“Therefore,” Aleksandrov concluded, “it
is completely incorrect to consider the Baltic countries as innocent lambs not
involved in NATO’s crimes. As allies of the United States, they are legitimate
targets for military action against NATO aggression in Syria.”

Thus, instead of pulling back from his
original article, Aleksandrov used this occasion to advance an even more sweeping
argument, insisting that if Moscow were to invade and occupy the Baltic
countries if the US attacks Syria, the Russian government would have every
right to do so under international law.

The outrageousness of this position is
self-evident, but Aleksandrov’s behavior may reflect an even more serious
problem. Like Vladimir Zhirinovsky in Russian domestic affairs, Aleksandrov may
be acting in a way that will cause the West to view somewhat less appalling
behavior by the Kremlin in the event either as a lesser evil or even an
indication of good sense.

That possibility is something that means
the appearance of Soviet-style language and threats needs to be carefully
tracked, not only because it reflects what some near the Kremlin actually
believe but also a carefully designed operation to provoke Russia’s neighbors,
on the one hand, and win the top Russian leadership plaudits, on the other.

Staunton, August 30 – Vladimir
Putin’s anti-LGBT policies are often explained as an effort on his part to tap
into the attitudes of the Russian population, but a Jewish blogger in Moscow
says that in fact, like Soviet and Russian Imperial leaders before him, the
current Russian president is provoking homophobia rather than reflecting it.

Anton Nosik, who blogs regularly for
Ekho Moskvy, says that the situation in present-day Russia with regard to LGBTs
very much reminds him of the situation he and his fellow Jews faced in Soviet
times in that the Kremlin is making the problem much worse for its own ends (echo.msk.ru/blog/nossik/1145834-echo/).

Nosik writes that he “was born in
the USSR and lived 23 years, half of [his] life in that country. During that
time,” he says, he “did not encounter a single conflict connected with his
nationality, neither in school, nor in the institute, nor in the neighborhood,
nor in hospitals” where he worked.

But at the same time, “at the state
level,” the communist leadership “practiced rampant anti-Semitism: prohibiting
Jews by profession, limiting their numbers in senior posts, and setting quotas
in higher educational institutions,” he notes. “Every Jew felt this one way or
another. But this policy didn’t “translate” to the streets, although it did not
win the Soviets “points” with Jews.

“The very same thing is
occurring regarding gays,” Nosik says. “During 16 years of life in post-Soviet
Russia,” he continues, he has “not heard about any pogroms, labor conflicts or
other manifestations of homophobia ‘from below.’” The population remains
largely indifferent to what the powers that be are saying. Only those “in the
power structures” care.

There is a distinction, however. “In the
USSR, anti-Semitic norms and quotas weren’t advertised widely. But in Putin’s
Russia, homophobic norms are very widely promoted via public relations efforts.”
That, Nosik calls, recalls what the tsarist authorities did regarding the
Beylis case just before World War I.

Their calculation about Jews “did not
work in 1913,” Nosik says, and the current regime is likely to find that a
similar calculation about LGBTs now won’t work either.

Nosik’s argument is incomplete
reflecting as it does his experience among more urban and educated Russians
rather than society as a whole where there were regular reports of anti-gay
actions even before Putin’s campaign began. But it is a useful corrective to those
who want to let the Russian president off the hook by claiming he is only
responding to popular bigotry.

Note:This is my 27th special Window on
Eurasia about the meaning and impact of the planned Olympiad on the nations in
the surrounding region.These WOEs,
which will appear each Friday over the coming year, will not aim at being
comprehensive but rather will consist of a series bullet points about such
developments.I would like to invite
anyone with special knowlege or information about this subject to send me
references to the materials involved.My
email address is paul.goble@gmail.comAllow me to express my thanks to all those
who already have. Paul Goble

In the Name of
Security, Putin Issues Unpreccedented Ban on Meetings and Limits Movement
around Sochi …
President Vladimir Putin issues a detailed 2000-word decree banning meetings
and limiting movement in a zone around Sochi for a period beginning a month
before the competition and ending a month after it, the most sweeping security
measures ever imposed at the time of an Olympiad. For its full text, see rg.ru/2013/08/23/bezopasnost-dok.html).

Moscow Media Say
Kremlin Paying for Sochi by Cutting Aid to Families, Pensioners.Newspapers in the Russian capital say that
analysis prepared by the Finance Ministry shows that the Kremlin is paying for
the high costs of the Sochi Games by reducing payments to families and cutting
pensions, a trade off many Russians mind objectionable (newsru.com/finance/29aug2013/olimp.html).

“It Gets Better’
Founder Backs Sochi Boycott.Dan Savage,who founded the “It Gets Better”organization to fight for
LGBT rights says he supports boycotts both of vodka because of its symbolism as
“a Russian national product” and the Sochi Olympiad. If a boycott does not
happen, then he hopes for protests (voboda.org/content/article/25089870.html).

Sochi Police
Don’t Respond to Migrant Calls.A meeting of
representatives of 38 diaspora communities in Sochi says that despite the fact
that officials admit there have been more than 600 complaints about the
violation of their rights by the authorities, the police in the Olympic city
don’t answer telephone calls for help (www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/229159/
).

Many Sochi
Residents Not Getting Even Cold Water. After months of scheduled power outages and
occasional water cutbacks, large numbers of Sochi residents are without even
cold water, apparently because of a construction accident that cut through a
major water main in the city. Officials have promised to restore the water as
soon as possible, but residents are angry that in this warm period, they have
no water at al (blogsochi.ru/content/sos-net-kholodnoi-vody
and

New Yorker
Writer Calls for Building Two Permanent Olympic Venues.In a New
Yorker blog, Ian Crouch says that continuing problems with Olympic venues,
including those at Sochi, should lead the international community to establish
two Olympic cities, one north and one south, as permanent venues for the games
rather than allow the corrupt competition for sites to continue (newyorker.com/online/blogs/sportingscene/2013/08/a-plan-to-save-the-olympic-games.html).

Sochi Will ‘Either
Be a Celebration of Repression or Resistance,’ Nation Writer Says. Dave Zirin says that “Fighting injustice
actually demands having a fight. The IOC won’t do it for us. If you stand for
LGBT rights, then you need to stand up, pick a side, throw on your rainbow
colored gloves, and start fighting. In the end, the story of Sochi will either
be the celebration of repression or resistance. The time to organize resistance
begins now, with no illusions in the IOC, their corporate sponsors, or the good
will of our own government” (thenation.com/blog/175695/why-banning-russia-olympics-terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-idea#axzz2dIZ2JSdm).

Vladivostok Did
Not Attract the Investment Moscow Promised.A year after the Asian Pacific Summit in the Russian Far Eastern city,
it is clear, observers say, that the massive spending by Moscow in advance of
that meeting has not sparked the kind of foreign investment there that Russian
officials had suggested, an indication of the likely future of Sochi and
environs after the Olympiad (svpressa.ru/society/article/73212/).

Sochi
Police Using Security Cameras to Catch Parking Violations. The Sochi police are using the expensive
system of television monitors to catch people who violate the city’s
increasingly stringent parking rules rather than for the purposes of security
they were intended (sochiadm.ru/press-sluzhba/19189/).

Amnesty
International Says Putin’s Ban on Meetings in Sochi Violates Russian Rights. Sergey Nikitin,
hed of Amnesty International’s Moscow office, says that his organization sees in
Putin’s ban of meetings in the Sochi area before, during and after the Olympics
“an obvious violation of citizens’ rights, especially the ones described in the
well-known article 31 of the Russian constitution which guarantees citizens’
rights to peaceful demonstrations, marches and rallies, etc. Also, it violates
another article of the constitution: the freedom of movements” (euronews.com/2013/08/26/sochi-2014-amnesty-international-reacts-to-putin-s-ban-on-public-gatherings/).

Nearly 2,000
Violations of Construction Rules Found in Sochi Transport System.Officials say they have identified 1850
violations of construction rules in the transportation system changes that have
been made in Sochi in advance of the Olympiad (interfax.ru/realty/realtyinf.asp?id=325551&sec=1461).

Moscow’s Promise
to Promote ‘Authentic’ Russian Culture in Sochi Quetioned.A Moscow commentator says that the Russian
government’s promises to showcase “authentic” Russian culture during the games
is not entirely credible given the ways in which some organizers have promoted
cheap and inauthentic goods there to make money (polit.ru/article/2013/08/27/eb270813/).

Russian Police
to Use Horses for Security at Sochi. Because of the rough terrain,
officials plan to use horses to maintain security and even deliver goods during
the Sochi Olympics. To ensure that no one exploits this to bring in explosives
or other contraband, the horses are being specially trained and fitted with
microchips (kp.ru/daily/26119.2/3012556/).

Tkachev
Pressures Contractors to Speed Up Work and Complete Tasks. Saying there is
no alternative to shock work, Krasnodar Governor Aleksandr Tkachev says that
companies must work extended shifts in order to complete construction before
the middle of September. “You undertand very well that we have no other way
out,” he tells them (blogsochi.ru/content/do-15-sentyabrya).

All Involved
with Sochi Including TV Views Will Be Guilty of ‘One of Seven Deadly Sins.’ Edward
Yaeger, a Baltimore writer, says that everyone who isinvolved with Sochi, including those who
watch the competition on television, will be guilty of one or another “deadly
sin,” including “Wrath: draconian, anti-homophobia, bashing,
tormented, beaten, atrocities; pride: pride, win, glory; avarice: greed, gold;
sloth: antipathy, apathetic; lust: unyielding desire; envy: begrudge,
invidious, heroism, vilification; and Gluttony: extremely and blindingly hungry
(outsports.com/2013/8/25/4649008/seven-deadly-sins-sportsmanship-sochi-olympics).

Russian Scholar
Says Moscow’s ‘Mistakes’ Opened the Way for Circassian Protests Against Sochi.In a long article for MGIMO, V.M. Mukhanov
says that Moscow’s failure to take the Circassian movement serioiusly and its “mistaken
steps” when it finally did have created the conditions for the Circassias to
attract “broad public attention both in Russia and abroad” to the demands of
the Circassian people and their complaints about the holding of the games on
the site of the deportation of their ancestors (mgimo.ru/files2/y08_2012/226157/Zak446_Ejeg12_9.pdf).

IOC Doing Moscow’s
‘Dirty Work’ No Surprise, Tablet Writer Says.Rachel Shukert, a writer for the Jewish newspaper Tablet says the
Russian are lucky that “they’ve got the IOC to do the dirty work for them,”
something that should come as no surprise to those who allowed Hitler to host a
games in 1936 and have refused “again and again” to allow any official
commemoration of the Israeli athletes were were killed in Munich in 1972. But
this time things could be different because this is the Winter Olympics and
many of the competitors come from “the heart of Aryan Country,” people against
whom the IOC is less likely to behave so badly. “The Israelis, yes. But some
big gay (or gay-friendly) ubermensch from Norway, while the whole world
watches? Not on your life” (tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/141951/tattler-gay-rights-olympics#undefined).

Bloomberg News
Calls for ‘No Tolerance for Russia’s Anti-Gay Games.’ The editors of Bloomberg
news say that there should be zero tolerance for Russia’s anti-LGBT laws at
Sochi and that the IOC could make a difference if it were willing to.“IOC pressure on South Korea’s military dictatorship helped bring about democratic elections
before the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul. Ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the IOC pressed China to drop its
law requiring foreign journalists to get government permission before
interviewing Chinese citizens. Now, the IOC should be telling Russia to revoke
its anti-gay law in order to conform with the Olympic Charter and remain the
host of the Winter Games. As the committee has so far shown no such
inclination, sponsors of the Olympics and television networks that plan to
cover the event ought to push. Otherwise, come February, they may find
themselves in an embarrassing mess …

Moscow Lobbies
Pacific Islands to Get Support for Holding Competitions in Russia. Moscow has
lobbied the small island nations of the Pacific, including providing them with
large infusions of cash, to get their votes for holding international sports
competitions in the Russian Federation, part of its strategy of using such
competitions to boost its international standing (novayagazeta.ru/politics/59672.html).

Sochi Increasingly
the Object of Russian Jokes. Russians are telling ever more jokes about the
Sochi Games, Blogsochi.ru reports. It provides a selection of 20 of the most
widespread. Among the best: “The Sochi Games are one of the ways the West has
cleverly decided to bankrupt and destroy Russia” “Moscow has advertised a
competition to have winter in Sochi” and “The Sochi Games are more expensive
than all previous Olympiads for Russians both in a direct and indirect sense” (blogsochi.ru/content/davaite-posmeemsya-ponedelnik-den-tyazhelyi).

Sochi Organizers
Seek Thousands of Temporary Workers for Games. The Sochi
organizing committee is seeking thousands of temporary workers in cities and
towns across the Russian Federation, even though there is evidence that it is
not ready to house or otherwise take care of them if they come (kp.ru/online/news/1517043/).

… And Such
Volunteers May Face More Problems.Russian laws and regulations mean, Blogsochi.ru points out, that those
who do volunteer for the Games may find that they will be assigned to different
tasks than they agreed to perform and won’t be paid in a timely manner, if
indeed at all. Moreover, if a new law now being considered in the Duma passes,
they won’t even have the right to walk away from such positions (blogsochi.ru/content/volonterskoe-rabstvo).

FIFA Presses
Moscow on Gay Rights.FIFA President Sepp Blatter says his organization
is seeking explanations from Moscow about what the anti-gay propaganda law
might mean for his group’s competitors in 2018. 'When you speak with the Russians, they don't speak
about discrimination, they speak about protection [of minors],” he says. “That
is different. I said, 'So please give me the evidence that you are protecting
somebody and not discriminating.' For
the time being we have received only protests and demands from our football,
sports or Olympics people. I have received nothing officially from the
Russians," said Blatter, who is also an International Olympic Committee
member” (cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2013/08/25/sp-soccer-fifa-russia-2018-world-cup-nti-gay-law.html).

Snow Stockpiled
for Sochi Not Melting.The BBC
reports that snow that Sochi organizers have stockpiled in case there isn’t
enough next year for the competitions is “surviving the summer heat” (bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23831148).

Washington Post
Columnist Calls for Protests at Sochi.Sally
Jenkins, a sports columnist for the Post,
says that Martin Luther King, Jr., would expect athletes and others to protest
Russian laws against LGBTs. “The Olympics have
become a direct cause of human-rights abuses. In three of the last four venues
selected by the IOC, we've had detention and torture of anti-Olympic protestors
in Beijing; tear gas and rubber bullets for similar protestors in Rio; and
forced evictions, labor exploitation and the threat of arrest for anyone who
happens to be too visibly homosexual in Sochi,” she writes, even though “The
IOC would have us think these are delicate moral matrices and none of its
affair, and insists that athletes be apolitical” (northjersey.com/sports/220977431_Commentary__A_call_for_Olympic_protest.html).

Moscow Analyst
Says Terrorist Acts in Sochi ‘Improbable’ But Violence Nearby Likely.Andrey Yepifantsev, a political
scientist who heads the Alte et Certe group in Moscow, says that there is
unlikely to be a terrorist act in Sochi itself during the Olympiad because of the
presence of so many security officers but that violence nearby, including “large
battles,” could happen and would have a large and negative impact on Russia’s
image (svpressa.ru/politic/article/73049/).

Kosachev Says
West ‘Disinformed’ about LGBTs in Russia.Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Russian agency for the affairs of the
CIS, compatriots abroad and international humanitarian cooperation, says that
those in the West who support gay rights are “disinformed” about the real state
of LGBTs in the Russian Federation (vz.ru/news/2013/8/24/647011.html).

Kremlin
Said Using One Gay Activist Against Critics.“Out” commentator Michael Lucas says that
Nikolay Alekseyev, who had been an outspoken critic of the Russian government
on LGBT issues, has changed his tune and is now attacking Western defenders of
gay rights and other Russian gay activists who have criticized Russian law and
practice and the Sochi Olympics."What is
happening with the Olympics,” Alekseyev says, “it is making the topic absurd.
In fact, there are none of the persecutions here that the Western media keeps
talking about." According to Lucas, Alekseyev for whatever reason has
become “the Kremlin’s new pocket gay” (out.com/news-opinion/2013/08/28/nikolai-alexeyev-kremlin-new-pocket-gay#.Uh4ZbHGy4kE.twitter

Russian Gay Leader Says Sochi has Attracted Attention to
Plight of LGBTs in Russia.Nikolay Alekseyev, president of GayRussia.ru
and the Moscow Pride Organizing Committee, says that international outcry about
Russia’s anti-gay propaganda legislation has given his community “a unique possibility ..to
have their voice heard. Despite the fact that there will be no official Pride
House, unlike in Vancouver and London, and no authorized Gay Pride march during
the forthcoming event in February, the Sochi Olympics have a chance to become
the gayest ever in the history of the Olympic movement, and the bans on Pride House
and the introduction of the gay propaganda laws has actually only helped.” The
best way forward now, he continued, is for Western governments to impose
entrance visa bans on Russian officials behind the anti-gay issue and to
support quick action by the European Court for Human Rights on the law (http://rt.com/op-edge/russia-gay-rights-sochi-945/).

Gessen Says West
Must Understand that the Kremlin, Not Russia, is the Problem.Masha Gessen, a Russian gay rights activist
who has fled to the West, says that the Kremlin rather than the Russian people
are the problem when it comes to LGBT rights and that the West must make
Vladimir Putin the issue rather than taking steps that hurt Russians as a whole
(golos-ameriki.ru/content/masha-gessen/1736162.html).

IOC President
Pleased Russian Athlete Backed Away from Anti-Gay Comments. Jacques Rogge,
president of the IOC, said he was upset by Elena Isinbayeva’s comments against
homosexuality but pleased that she later “clarified” her remarks (rusnovosti.ru/news/278488/).

Izvestiya
Says ‘LGBTs of All Nations are Uniting Against Putin.’ In an article
that may help or hurt the Russian president, Moscow’s Izvestiya argues that
supporters of gay rights around the world are now uniting against Vladimir
Putin for his policies (izvestia.ru/news/555934).

Star Wars Star Continues
Sochi Boycott Campaign.George Takei, an actor and gay activist, is
continuing is campaign to have next year’s Olympiad shifted from Sochi to
VancouverHesas that “the Russians are
taunting the IOC with the homophobic laws that they pass. They give license to
the thugs and the hooligans -- you know how they've been carrying on. This is
the time for Russians to rethink. One of the senior members of the IOC, from
Norway, has already spoken to the press saying that the Winter Olympics must be
taken out of Sochi. He hasn't backed the idea of moving it to Vancouver yet,
but that's the obvious venue that's the most prepared. Adjustments will have to
be made, and if it's not in time for the Games and the will is there, you
postpone it for a year.” If th Games are not moved, he says, “then the next
phase of our efforts should be to disqualify Russian athletes from
participation. They've breached the Olympic charter. The humiliation ... they'd
be holding it in Russia, and the Russian athletes can't participate because of
their egregious homophobic policies” (huffingtonpost.ca/2013/08/23/george-takei-sochi-olympics-gay-rights-putin_n_3798777.html?utm_hp_ref=tw
).